During the treatment of patients, it is often necessary to insert various types of tubes into body orifices, such as the nose. Because an inserted tube often feels very uncomfortable, patients frequently attempt to remove the tubes during treatment. To limit the risk of patient interference with medical treatment, various devices and methods have been employed in an attempt to deter the removal of the tubes by the patient.
In conventional application, nasogastric tubes have been inserted through the nose and nasal cavity of a patient down the esophagus and into the stomach as needed in connection with patient treatment. In order to prevent the patient from removing the nasogastric tube once it has been inserted, the tube has frequently been taped in place to the face of the patient. Unfortunately, such an arrangement usually only adds to the discomfort of the patient while providing little impediment to the removal of the tube by the patient.
In other arrangements, elastic headbands have been employed to hold the nasogastric tube in position. While relieving patient discomfort caused by the conventional use of tape, elastic headbands also offer only marginal protection against patient removal of the tube. In some arrangements, a patient can grasp the tube beyond the holder to pull it from the nose. In other arrangements, the elasticity of the headband itself permits the tube holder to be pulled away from the face to expose the tube thereby enabling a patient to grasp the tube and pull it from the nose.
In accordance with the present invention, a tube construction is provided which effectively holds a nasogastric tube in position without imposing any additional undue discomfort to the patient. The tube construction, in accordance with the present invention, overcomes many of the deficiencies of the conventional arrangements by effectively and efficiently preventing the removal of a nasogastric tube by the patient.